Varanasi Calls for Global Innovators to Enhance Crowd Flow Management As Part Of $9M Sustainable Cities Challenge

The Varanasi Challenge is looking for solutions that will allow the city to better manage the growing influx of annual visitors, while making the city more accessible for tourists and local residents, particularly older people and people with disabilities.

Located on the banks of the Ganges River in northern India, Varanasi is widely known as the “spiritual capital” of the nation. The old city of Kashi within Varanasi is one of India’s most important pilgrimage sites, with millions of people visiting every year for religious and cultural reasons. The inflow of tourists, however, when coupled with the city’s narrow, winding lanes and dense urban fabric, raises potential questions around safety and overcrowding. Previous reports have suggested that Varanasi attracted around 70 million visitors, which reiterates the need to enhance the city’s safety and accessibility, especially as most tourists are middle-aged and elderly people.